"Who needs reasons when you've got heroin?" ... This film reminded me so much of Fight Club. On paper, it's nothing like the latter, but atmosphere-wise, I felt similarly. Well, surely more digusted and queasy. But still wonderfully apathetic yet emotional and funny in that disturbing way.

Despite my love of horror, I despise seeing other people being hurt, because my imagination is worse than reality. Of course, the hurting situation needs to be depicted in a realistic way, for it to have the same effect on my in movies. But I've never taken heroin, so that mostly works. And it really works here. Trainspotting is so bleak, I was quite sure that I wouldn't like it that much when I started watching it. I almost threw up more than once. But something in that initial dialogue touched me emotionally and half-way into the film, I realize that it's brilliant.

Maybe it's that edge of humor that elevates it. I'm not saying it's fun to see people live their lives the way these people do but... it's depicted in a humorous way. The film doesn't take itself as seriously as say Requiem for a Dream or Christiane F. Those are great films but I didn't enjoy one second of them and frankly never want to see them again. But when it comes to this one, I think I do. If only to hear Ewan McGregor's fantastic Scottish accent. But why am I even explaining... I'm trying to find reasons why I liked this movie so much, but maybe I should just get some heroin instead. Just joking.

It's quite flawed, especially because all I wanted was to see Deepika get out her bow and fight, but I still enjoyed it. You have to see it a an old fashioned fairytale of sorts, because then it all works. Ranveer Singh as Indian Khal Drogo is the scenery-chewing highlight of this film for me.

Edit: Having read some articles reflecting on the depiction of women in this movie, I can't say I like it any more. It was a nice experience but I just can't deny how horrible the ending is, which I didn't realize at the time.

-- Blind Spot: December 2017 -- For my January and December blind spot, I made an exception from my normal scheme for this season (60s and 70s movies). Instead, the movies are a reflection of two journeys I have been on, Chungking Express representing my semester exchange at a university in Hong Kong. As you may know, In the Mood for Love is one of my favorite films of all time, so I have been in awe of Wong Kar-Wai for a long time. I have waited too long to see Chungking Express, but better late than never.

-The Good- Where to start? This is by far my favorite film I have seen this blind spot season. It is everything I love in a movie, but what that is exactly, is so hard to to put into words. Firstly, the plot is not the main focus of this film. It is more about feelings, relationships between people and life in general, but then there is just enough story to make it seem worthwile. The actors are amazing, and while I already lost my heart to Tony Leung Chiu-Wai many years ago, I was incredibly intrigued by Faye Wong in this film. But everyone else is doing a great job. The film gives you all the emotions from terror to love to shame, it has everything, and it is everything. I cannot believe it gave me exactly the ending I wanted.

-The Bad- Some people may wonder what this film is supposed to tell you and why it exists, and the only thing I can say is... it is beautiful! And I love it. But if someone doesn't enjoy it, that's fine and I won't try to change your mind.

-The Thought- This film is such a cool representation of Hong Kong! Even though it was released a year before I was born, and the city is changing so much every year, you can still recognize all its main traits in this. The snack shops, the 7/11, even the characters are all people I've seen here. And at the same time, it's a slice of 90s Hong Kong that will keep that era alive on screen.

Apologies for my ramblings, I tried to write what I feel about this movie, and about leaving this place, but it all comes out a bit messily. But if anyone has never seen Chungking Express, I hope you do so.

At first I was put off by the reality tv show feel of the film, but quickly appreciated it as a slice-of-life documentary. It makes me appreciate Gaga as an artist and a woman, and though I'm late to the party, I fell in love with her latest album.

-- Blind Spot: November 2017 -- The first time I heard about Midnight Cowboy was on the Reel Insight podcast a few years ago and it immediately intrigued me. A gay-themed movie that won the Oscar in the 1960s?! Then, when Moonlight came around, I thought of this film again. I decided that really, this was a major blind spot for me, so here I am, having finally gained sight (?). It's an important movie with a nice pace, although some parts seem unnecessary and diluted. The good parts are definitely worth it.

-The Good- This is both Jon Voight's and Dustin Hoffman's second film in this year's blind spot project for me. Both appeared in 70s movies that I watched earlier in the year; Voight in Deliverance and Hoffman in Kramer vs. Kramer. To be honest, I didn't recognize Voight from the previous film, perhaps because he is a bit of a generic white dude (no offense). It's nice to see an actor disappear in his roles though, so to speak, and I thought he fit this part wonderfully. His character seems both naive and arrogant at times, but he does have that tiny bit of charisma that makes us care about him. To me, Dustin Hoffman is the star of this film, though. In fact, I had completely forgotten that he was starring in it. This man is one of my favorite actors of all time, and knowing that he jumped from a slick, melancholic performance in The Graduate to this, impresses me even further. Also, "I'M WALKING HERE!".

-The Bad- It's odd to see a man so willing to become a male prostitute. To him, this is the dream; having sex with women and getting paid by them. Never does it really occur to him, that this would not end up fulfilling him. Of course, the movie leaves you guessing about Joe's true sexual orientation and how he is very conflicted about that, but I would have liked it to dive further into the negative sides of prostitution. Then again, there are other scenes I wouldn't have missed, had they been cut, such as the psychedelic 60s party. It really didn't fit into this story that is really more about friendship and love. I wish that the director had seen this more clearly himself, and focussed on the essentials.

-The Thought- Midnight Cowboy was much less gay than I expected, but I liked the subtlety in which it addresses the topic of homosexuality. Of course, it took a great risk in telling the story it told, but often you actually need to read between the frames to understand what it's trying to say. Although the ending has been criticized, I like the idea of both main characters starting anew and going to a better place. And that might just be the romantic in me that I often try to hide.

Less Hollywood than expected. A tribute to the Before trilogy but nowhere near as perfect, but definitely cute and different from the usual romantic slice-of-life movie. Nice to see all the places in Hong Kong although they seem less crowded than what I am experiencing.

]]>Mette KowalskiBlind Spots to Erase in 2018https://letterboxd.com/mette/list/blind-spots-to-erase-in-2018/ letterboxd-list-2277926Mon, 12 Feb 2018 10:20:04 +1300I'm going back to the 80s and 90s to see what I missed out on just before / after I was born.

Reviews will be published here on Letterboxd as well. Find the Blind Spot Series at www.returningvideotapes.com!

]]>Mette KowalskiBlind Spots to Erase in 2017https://letterboxd.com/mette/list/blind-spots-to-erase-in-2017/ letterboxd-list-1309757Sun, 25 Dec 2016 01:31:19 +1300Find the blogathon at thematinee.ca. Last year, I failed miserably and only watched half of the movies I wanted to see. This year, I'm trying anew. Let's do this!

The films will all be from the 1960s or 1970s, except for the first and last one.

]]>Mette KowalskiRanking 2017https://letterboxd.com/mette/list/ranking-2017/ letterboxd-list-1545806Wed, 12 Apr 2017 22:56:29 +1200The list will change into a top 10 or 25 list once I've seen all the best picture nominees and some other ones that I missed last year.

]]>Mette KowalskiBlind Spots to Erase in 2015https://letterboxd.com/mette/list/blind-spots-to-erase-in-2015/ letterboxd-list-422245Thu, 30 Oct 2014 19:31:12 +1300Every month, I will watch a movie that I feel like I should've seen already; a movie that has played a part in film history and had some kind of influence.

This year, I will watch 6 movies from the 1920s and 6 movies from the 1930s, since my film diary tells me that those are the decades I tend to neglect the most in my watching habits. The titles are all included in the 1001+ Movies You Have to See Before You Die List because that's how efficient I am about this. During the selective process, priority was given to films that were already in my watchlist, won the Academy Award for Best Picture or just generally rang a bell for me.

]]>Mette KowalskiTop 25 Favorites of 2013https://letterboxd.com/mette/list/top-25-favorites-of-2013/ letterboxd-list-384843Thu, 28 Aug 2014 18:32:22 +1200My 25 favorite films of 2013, as of August 2014. I will not edit this list, as I feel I have seen the films I really wanted to see, most of them anyway.

]]>Mette KowalskiFavorite short filmshttps://letterboxd.com/mette/list/favorite-short-films/ letterboxd-list-309153Thu, 3 Apr 2014 00:08:01 +1300In no particular order, I list some shorts that have had an impact on me.